


Meeting Whitebeard

by Haru D Nae (Anaelita)



Series: Around the Grand Line [21]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, Developing Friendships, Duelling, First Meetings, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Haki (One Piece), M/M, Pre-Canon, Teenagers sailing with the Pirate King, basically the two captains going all out, cabin boys and Minks mingling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 00:18:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14068764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anaelita/pseuds/Haru%20D%20Nae
Summary: First encounter with the Whitebeard Pirates for our two cabin boys.





	1. Prologue

Shanks spots a speck on the sea while he's on watch duty. He asks his friend Buggy for the spyglass, confirms the presence of a ship, and Buggy recognizes the jolly roger right away.

"Whitebeard sighted !" The two cabin boys shout from the lookout.

Maneuvers to get close don't take long and Roger's crew make themselves ready for the fight when the Captain speaks aloud.

"Whitebeard is a powerful opponent and I don't want any useless blood shed. I will fight him one-on-one."

The crew gapes a little – probably a little disappointed –, except Rayleigh who smirks and Crocus who sighs, shaking his head. Shanks and Buggy are fairly impressed but more than willing to witness such a duel.

When the Moby Dick is close enough, Roger's crew can see Whitebeard's eagerly watching them from the decks but standing their ground as if they had been ordered not to attack.

Whitebeard appears. "Roger !"

The Pirate King hops on the railing, holding onto the cordage. "Newgate ! Still bragging about being the strongest man alive ?"

"Gurararara ! Still bragging about being the Pirate King ?"

"Hahahaha ! Fight me on the next island !"

"Of course !"

Then both captains leave and get back to commanding their respective ships until they reach the next piece of land the Log Pose has to offer them.

They reach it at night, a sad and tiny piece of rock without a living soul on it. Perfect place for a fight but it's getting dark and the crews are tired. The captains agree on duelling tomorrow at sunrise.

 


	2. Day 1

Everybody wakes up early, even the usually late sleepers, no one would want to miss such an awesome fight.

Just before sunrise Roger and Whitebeard leave their ships and stand to face each other on the rocky beach down on the small island.

The first ray of sun is accompanied by a clash of Conqueror's Haki, both captains want an all-out fight and neither will back down. The resulting wave knocks out the unprepared, weaker members of both crews – including Shanks and Buggy.

From the beach, Whitebeard smiles and shouts, "Marco ! Take care of the kids so they don't get hurt", before resuming his fight.

Said First Commander obediently gathers the youngest crewmates from both crews to take them further away, while most of the people aboard the Oro Jackson and the Moby Dick choose to watch the battle in awe.

 

* * *

 

Buggy blinks awake, doesn't recognize the bunk he's in right away and fears they've lost the fight and he's been captured-

"Hey, you're awake ?"

Buggy turns to his side and faces a dog. No, a dog-faced human. No, a- What ?

"I'm Inuarashi. Marco put us here because the captains are using Conqueror's Haki."

Unable to form a proper sentence, the blue-haired cabin boy stammers, "I-I'm Buggy."

The dog-human-whatever frowns, "What ?"

"You're a dog."

"I'm a Mink ! And so is Nekomamushi here", he motions towards Buggy

Buggy realizes he's comfortably installed on a purring ball of fur. "Huh ? A Mink ?"

The ball of fur sleepily speaks, "I'm a cat Mink and Inuarashi is a dog Mink, can't you tell ?"

Buggy starts and moves away from the stretching cat-human-whatev- oh, right, Mink. "What are you guys ?"

Shanks yawns, "What's the ruckus ?"

Buggy hurriedly turns to his nakama, "They're monsters !"

Inuarashi grumpily supplies, "No we're not."

"What are you talk- oh." Shanks opens wide eyes at the two Minks. "Awesome ! Where are you guys from ? Are many others like you ?"

Nekomamushi smiles widely, "I like this one better."

"Wait, where is Captain ?"

Inuarashi answers, "Our Captains are still fighting, but they're using Conqueror's Haki so we're kinda grounded."

"Ugh ! Of course the greatest fun is for them, I wanna see the fight too !"

Buggy whines, "Me too, Conqueror's Haki is so cool..."

A door opens and Marco enters the dormitory. "Conqueror's Haki is also powerful and that's why you are to stay far enough so you don't get hurt. Some of you already fainted on the deck earlier, yoi."

Shanks pokes his tongue and makes a face.

Marco lifts an eyebrow but doesn't comment.

Nekomamushi insists, "What if we're on the lookout ? Or even in a lifeboat further away than the ship, and we have a spyglass, and-"

"Actually, the lifeboat might be a good idea. Let's set this up."

"Yay !"

 

* * *

 

The view is amazing, even by night. None of the kids aboard the little lifeboat have never witnessed a fight like this. Their captains have been at it for hours and none of them seem to be the smallest bit tired.

When Marco flies by to check on them around dinner time, Buggy and Shanks open wide eyes at his phoenix form, they've never seen a Zoan Devil Fruit before, and certainly not a mythical one.

Buggy starts, "Oi ! What's with your Devil Fruit, you're gonna burn us or something !"

Getting back to a more human appearance, Marco explains, "I won't, my flames are for healing only, yoi."

Buggy holds out his hand and tries to touch the phoenix. "You mean they don't- hey, they don't burn... Shanks, check this out !"

The redhead's mouth is agape at the display, he's astonished. The world really is a big place. Today they encountered Minks and a classy Devil Fruit user. He wonders if they'll have such a big crew when they're older, and if they will rival them.

Buggy frowns. "Wait, does that mean you can avoid drowning despite being a Devil Fruit user ? That's unfair !" Plus, Marco is looking freaking flashy in full Zoan form, which isn't something Buggy can say while using his own powers...

Marco laughs. "Alright, kids, time to go back to the ships, it's getting late. You can always come back tomorrow, looks like the fight is going to last a while."

The cabin boys and the Minks grumpily comply.


	3. Day 2

By the second day of the battle, the betting pool is opened. Drinks, money and treasure maps to win for those whose captain will defeat the other.

Since Roger and Whitebeard started using less and less Conqueror's Haki, more people can come ashore than yesterday and watch the fight from a reasonable distance. That means drinks and a feast for the spectators.

Shanks and Buggy want to join them but Rayleigh said it's still too dangerous for them and that they should watch from the ship. They quickly get bored and decide to join their newfound friends on the Moby Dick.

"Nekomamushi ! Inuarashi !" The redhead calls from the lifeboat they've borrowed.

The Minks poke their heads from over the railing and don't waste time in jumping to join Shanks and Buggy.

The four youngsters move the boat to where they can see the fight, but to their utmost disappointment there isn't much more to see than yesterday – that is, no more Conqueror's Haki and all-out moves like before. Unsatisfied, they decide to go back to the Moby Dick and explore the ship for the time being.

Nekomamushi and Inuarashi already know the ship like the back of their paw and soon the exploration turns into a hide-and-seek game all over the decks.

[x] Shanks still wants to see the fight so he decides to climb up the gigantic cordage and see if the view is better out there. The other crew's cook, Thatch, sees him and alerts Buggy, but before his nakama can come after him he's caught by Marco using a semi-Zoan form.

Buggy is still jealous of the other's Devil Fruit powers, almost falls into the sea while admiring Marco's wings, but Thatch catches him at the last moment.

When Rayleigh learns what happened, both cabin boys get grounded without authorization of leaving the ship until the fight is over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [x] At this point in the text [this picture](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d7/b5/4d/d7b54d5e263897d2d23d8cd9090b9a48--op-one-piece-one-piece-anime.jpg) fits perfectly, thank you [my lovely otter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kidha) for the idea <3


	4. Day 3

The sun rises for the third time since the beginning of the fight. Both crews are on their respective ships, doing their respective jobs, grown tired of watching the same men fighting again and again.

A sword in one hand and the other motioning towards the beach, Roger asks, "Fancy a drink ?"

Retaliating from the last blow received, Whitebeard answers, "Sure."

Both captains sheathe their swords and make their way to the spot where their crews forgot a few barrels from the day before.

Roger sits. "Phew, guess we're still a draw..."

Whitebeard lifts an eyebrow, "I said I was going to drink but that doesn't mean I won't beat you up after."

The Pirate King laughs.

 

* * *

 

There has been no sound for a while – or rather, talking and laughing instead of the expectable fight... Shanks is getting curious. He gets out from his bunk and climbs into the lookout and sees... his Captain drinking and laughing with Whitebeard ! "Rayleigh !"

The Dark King hauls himself up close to Shanks, takes the spyglass to confirm his suspicions and chuckles, shaking his head. "I think they've called it a day."

When both crews come ashore to check on their captains, they're drunk.

Upon noticing the crews, Roger and Whitebeard resume their fight, sloppily but still with Haki, until they fall asleep.

Meanwhile, the crews resumed their feast and drinking – why leave the barrels opened if not to drink from them ? –, reopened the betting pool now that half the supplies are gone.

Needless to say, everyone gets wicked drunk.


	5. Epilogue (Day 4)

Roger wakes up. "Oi."

Whitebeard blinks at his opponent, sprawled a few feet away from him. "Raincheck ?"

"Yeah."

Both captains sigh a low chuckle, too tired to actually laugh.

 

* * *

 

Since the fight is officially over, Shanks and Buggy are back on the beach. They've taken a liking to the two Minks, and spending some time with them.

The redhead calls out for his new friends, "Oi ! Inu, Neko !"

Both Minks jump from the Moby Dick's railing when they hear their nicknames. "So it's finally over, huh ?", Inuarashi inquires.

"Yeah, I guess, but it looks like a draw to me", Buggy supplies.

"That's bad for the betting pool", Nekomamushi laughs.

Shanks whines, "But everyone's hungover from yesterday, we're almost the only ones sober."

"Yeah, pretty much the same here, except Marco."

"Why is that ?" Buggy asks.

"His Devil Fruit powers allow him fast recovery, so he's never hungover either."

Buggy erupts. "Ugh ! That is so unfair !"

Shanks laughs.

Inuarashi says, "Even Lord Oden is passed out, I've never seen him like that."

"Lord who ?"

"Lord Oden, we're his retainers and we're on the crew as such."

"Never heard of him."

"That's normal, in the same way that we come from Zou and you've never heard of it because you're new to the Grand Line, Lord Oden comes from a faraway land that's closed to outsiders."

"Really ? Then how do you know him ?"

"It's a long story. Let's just say his clan and the Minks hold great value in their friendship and they've known each other for centuries."

"Wow. That's something. Are all of you guys pirates ?"

Nekomamushi laughs, "No ! And it's pretty unusual, especially for someone like Lord Oden, to be one."

"Oi, kids."

Startled, the boys look up to see a flying Marco – Buggy is starting to develop a certain disdain towards the man, though the idea of using his own Devil Fruit powers to fly seem awfully interesting at the moment, he'll have to try that later on.

"You've been awfully close together considering our crews are rival."

Shanks pokes his tongue out, "But even our Captains drink together so what's the deal ?"

"You've got a point, yoi. But that's not a reason. You Minks go back to your bunk and you two should probably do the same."

The four teenagers reluctantly do as they're told, but not without a smile and a waving hand while they part ways.

 

* * *

 

That evening on the ship, when the speck of – now broken – rock that saw a fight like none other is long forgotten behind them, Shanks and Buggy find they have plenty of stories to tell their Captain about. Stories about a dog and a cat, and some other man coming from a faraway land.

Roger decides he'll talk more next time he encounters Whitebeard. Maybe try and learn some more about a few peculiar crewmates he has...


End file.
